Homestay: Week 2

In the blink of an eye, I'm already leaving my homestay family tomorrow. I feel like we just got to Lismore, yet it's already been two weeks and I'm packing my bags for the next leg of my Aussie journey. I've come to really enjoy living in this house with my host family and I might even be back for Easter weekend.  It's been a time filled with bonding over food, spirituality, family, and other life experiences.  Going to service with my homestay mom and aunt has made me realize that there is a serious spiritual void in my life that I am going to work to fill when I get home. We shall see how this goes!


For the first time since being in Australia, we've had a pretty calm last few days. We had three days of class and two work days.  In one of our classes, we watched a lecture called "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy" by Dr. Albert Bartlett of UC Boulder. Dr. Bartlett poses some really interesting concepts in his argument such as the significance of the exponential function as it relates to population growth and energy consumption; and despite the seemingly dry nature of the presentation, it's important stuff.  I plan on showing it to friends and family upon my return. For now, it can be accessed via youtube at this link.


We also had a great day with Mary Graham in preparation for our Aboriginal camping trip.  "Mary Graham was born in Brisbane and grew up on the Gold Coast, she is a Kombu-merri person and is also affiliated with the Waka Waka group through her mother. She has lectured and tutored on subjects in Aboriginal history, politics, and comparative philosophy at the University of Queensland and at other educational institutions around the country." (source here).  As part of this Aboriginal Worldviews Workshop, we discussed many different topics including Aboriginal concepts of creation/genesis, time, logic, language and social norms, political structures, and spirituality. Tomorrow we leave for our four day trip at the Minyumai Indigenous Protected Area, south of Evan's Head near Bundjalung National Park.  We'll be spending these days with Doug Wilson, who is the traditional owner of the area and a member of the Bundjalung nation, and Uncle Russell Butler who's coming down from Queensland.  We aren't allowed to bring electronics, cameras, watches, or notebooks - another first. It will be exciting to take in the next few days without having to worry about taking notes or snapping photographs; I think we'll really get a chance to live in the moment.


Here are some photos from the past week:


We briefly went to a coal seam gas protest outside local politician Thomas George's office.  The controversy surrounding coal seam gas in Australia is very similar to what's going on at home with hydro-fracking of the Marcellus Shale.  

"How can anyone knowingly poison our life source. Be on the right side of history Thomas."

"Coal seam gas is banned in New York - France - Bulgaria and fracking is banned in England.  What is our government doing?"

"Lock the Gate" - a campaign that is being run in an attempt to keep out gas companies.

A kid with an upside down sign. How endearing.

And on a happier note...

Last night (as another token of my appreciation) I made dinner for my homestay family: chicken tikka masala, steamed broccoli and rice. My (real) mom would be so proud!

After the Aboriginal camping trip, we're back to Byron Bay and then this component of our coursework is over (it's hard to believe).  Then we spend the last five weeks doing our Independent Research Project.  I'm already planning post-program activities including a possible road trip up the Pacific Coastal Highway from Brisbane to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef, which is both exciting and overwhelming.